Salisbury, Homer Russell (1870–1915) and Lenna (Whitney) (1873–1923)

Homer and Lenna (Whitney) Salisbury spent their lives dedicated to educating Adventist young people.

Early Life

Homer Russell Salisbury was born May 27, 1870 in Battle Creek, Michigan, to Burleigh and Henrietta (McDearmon) Salisbury, early members of the Battle Creek Seventh-day Adventist congregation. Henrietta, better known as Nettie, died in 1874, and Homer’s father remarried the widowed Clara (Rowell) Hurlburt (1848-1932) in 1875. Homer grew up mostly in Battle Creek alongside his older half-brother, Wilber (1861-1946), and his younger step-brother, Harry Wells Hurlburt (1871-1940). They lived next door to Uriah Smith and his family.¹ However, Homer spent some time with relatives in Boulder, Colorado, where he attended public school, graduating from Boulder Prep school (now Boulder High School) in 1884 and then returning to Michigan.²

Lenna Elizabeth Whitney was born August 1, 1873 in Kirkville, New York, to Buel and Esther (Harris) Whitney, joining her older sister Jean in a home referred to by George I. Butler as “hospitable.”³ In late 1882, the twenty-first General Conference Session resolved that “Eld. B. L. Whitney and family go, at their earliest convenience, to the assistance of Eld. Andrews, by connecting themselves especially with the work in Switzerland”.⁴ Accordingly, the Whitneys moved to Switzerland, departing from New York aboard the Grecian Monarch on June 28, 1883. Disembarking in London on July 11, they then traveled on to Bale, Switzerland, arriving there on July 26.⁵ While their father undertook tract work among other responsibilities and their mother did editorial work, little is known about how Lenna and Jean spent their days as missionary children. At any rate, it is clear that they were educated. Poor health forced Buel Whitney to return to the States in late 1887, accompanied by Jean, to receive medical care at Battle Creek Sanitarium.⁶ Esther and Lenna soon followed, arriving in January 1888. Reunited in Battle Creek, Lenna, her mother, and her sister suffered a blow when Buel Whitney died on April 9, 1888.⁷

In 1888, Homer became a student at Battle Creek College. During his time as a student, he was converted and baptized in 1890. He worked as secretary for W. W. Prescott (the president of Battle Creek College at the time) from 1890 until 1892, when Homer graduated. During 1892-1893 he served as secretary to the manager of the Review and Herald Publishing Association.⁸ In 1893, he traveled to South Africa, where he taught history and English at Claremont Union College.⁹ Leaving Cape Town in 1896, he spent a year in London studying Hebrew. Then, in late 1897, Homer returned to Michigan to teach Hebrew and church history at Battle Creek College, which he did until 1901.¹⁰

After her father’s death, Lenna continued her studies. She graduated first from Battle Creek College’s literary course in 1896,¹¹ and then from the nurses’ training program at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. After studying physical education, she worked as a gymnasium instructor at the Sanitarium.¹²

Marriage and Career

The pair wed on February 1, 1899, in Battle Creek, Michigan. W. W. Prescott officiated and Clara Salisbury and Esther Whitney served as witnesses.¹³ The Salisburys continued to work as instructors at Battle Creek College, Homer teaching Hebrew and church history and Lenna physical culture.¹⁴

In November 1901, the couple sailed to England to establish a training school for church employees there.¹⁵ They promptly organized Duncombe Hall Missionary College, operating it out of the British Mission’s headquarters at 451 Holloway Road, London, England. Homer served as principal and Lenna as part of the faculty.¹⁶ By 1903, he also held the position of recording secretary for the General European Conference and chairman of its educational department committee. In addition, he served on several of the mission’s boards and committees.¹⁷ The couple’s focus centered on strengthening the practical training of church workers, and they emphasized the “missionary character” of the school, pointing out that instruction could be given “in the modern languages ordinarily taught in schools, but also in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Bengali, Hindustani, and Burmese, when required”.¹⁸

O. A. Olsen, W. A. Spicer, and E. E. Andross ordained Homer Salisbury in England in 1904.¹⁹ In 1905, in addition to his duties as principal, Homer became president of the South England Conference. Lenna was still an instructor at Duncombe Hall Training College.²⁰ In 1907, the General Conference Committee requested that Homer Salisbury “take charge of the Washington Training College” at one of its meetings held in Gland, Switzerland.²¹ The Salisburys returned to the United States, where they made their home in Maryland.

At the Washington Foreign Mission Seminary, Homer was the principal and taught Hebrew and church history, and Lenna taught French, Latin, and physical education.²² In later years, she added the duties of preceptress, “Swedish and Medical gymnastics”, and “Mohammedan fields” to the subjects she taught.²³ In 1910, after Frederick Griggs resigned as GC educational secretary in order to work at Union College, leadership appointed Homer editor of the Educational Magazine as well as filling the vacancy caused by Griggs’ resignation.²⁴ Part of Homer’s additional responsibilities, especially after he became the secretary (today’s director) of the General Conference’s education department, included presenting and preaching at various camp meetings and conferences.²⁵

In early 1913, the couple received an invitation to go to India.²⁶ The Salisburys sailed from the States on July 24, 1913, arriving at Lucknow, India, on October 19, 1913,²⁷ where Homer assumed the position of India Union Mission superintendent and Lenna as a general missionary licentiate.²⁸ An unsigned editorial in the Review praised the Salisburys for accepting the call to India, commenting:

L[oyalty] to God is not mere sentiment. It cannot be expressed alone in pleasant platitudes or by mere profession. More than by word of mouth, it is represented in the life. Of this loyalty many believers in this message have given definite assurance. For one to give all to Christ, sacrificing, if need be, position, property, and every personal consideration to give to his fellows the gospel of saving grace, to spend and to be spent, to wear out in such service, to lay his very life upon the altar,—in this kind of experience many connected with this movement are giving evidence of their highest loyalty to God and to his work.

We were impressed with this afresh as we bade good-by last week to Prof. and Mrs. H. R. Salisbury, who sailed for India to devote their lives to gospel work in that great and needy mission field. Brother Salisbury had just been elected by the General Conference as educational secretary for the next quadrennial term. His wife was a teacher and preceptress in the Foreign Mission Seminary. In these lines of educational work there was much to appeal to these workers,—comparatively pleasant environment, agreeable associations, favorable climate, and scores of other considerations which enter into the enjoyment of life among one's personal friends and acquaintances. These were willingly sacrificed, however, to answer the call to labor in a land of heathen darkness, where many conveniences and pleasures will be denied them. In this spirit of devotion they give evidence of their loyalty to God and their love for the souls of their fellows.²⁹

Within a decade, Homer and Lenna’s willingness to “spend and to be spent, to wear out in such service, to lay [one’s] very life upon the altar” would be clearly known by the entirety of the Adventist community.

Persia Incident and Aftermath

In late 1915, Homer left India, headed for the United States to attend Autumn Council, as he was a delegate due to his position as mission superintendent. His trip back to the States was long—Homer traveled from Lucknow, India, to Hong Kong, China, where he caught the Nippon Maru on September 24, stopping at Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 19, and arriving in San Francisco, California, on October 26.³⁰ While there were other shorter routes, the trip across the Pacific Ocean was deemed safer (albeit slower) than the trip from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, especially as England and France were at war with Germany.

Autumn Council convened in Loma Linda, California, from November 7 through 21, 1915, though it appears from the minutes that Homer left after November 17. General Conference Secretary William A. Spicer said that Salisbury had been “joyful in his work, bringing a cheering report of progress in India and Burma, and taking part in the organization of the Asiatic Division Conference” before heading back to India.³¹ He made several stops before sailing east, including one at Washington Missionary College, where he gave a chapel talk “impressing upon us the great need of workers” in mission fields.³²

By all accounts, Homer was eager to get back to India for a variety of reasons.³³ He therefore sailed from New York aboard the New York in late November or early December, arriving in Liverpool, England, on December 13. From there, his plan was to travel to Marseilles, France, and catch a Dutch ship that would carry him to Bombay (now Mumbai), India. He caught the British ship Persia on December 25 and no doubt looked forward to arriving safely in Lucknow after several months’ absence.

On December 30, 1915, the German U-boat U-38 torpedoed the S.S. Persia near the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. Of the 519 people aboard the Persia, 343 of them died, partially because of the rapidity with which the ship sank. Survivors first went to Alexandria, Egypt, and then, if uninjured, on to India and points farther East.³⁴ But Homer Salisbury was not among them.

Because of the disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict (or, as was noted at the time, “amid the uncertainties and breaking of mail connections in these times,”³⁵ the friends Homer had left in England did not know which ship he’d taken from France, so it was not immediately realized that he had been aboard the Persia. Fear grew about his fate as new reports of the incident multiplied.

A week after the sinking, on January 5, 1916, William C. Sisley, manager of the British Union Conference’s book depository,³⁶ wired the General Conference a telegram: “Fear Salisbury sailed on ‘Persia.’”³⁷ Later that same day, the Associated Press called the General Conference by telephone, asking about the name “Homer Salisbury” being on the Persia’s passenger list. The United States State Department then confirmed Homer’s presence on the ship.³⁸ The January 13, 1916, issue of the Review shared the information with the broader Adventist community, noting:

While still we hope that reports during the next few days may bring news of further groups of survivors found, we realize that we have cause of feeling the gravest concern. We know that those who have been watching the new dispatches for further reports during these anxious hours have prayed God to sustain and comfort Sister Salisbury, in India, realizing that she, too, must be watching these same reports to get news of the loved one hastening back to the field of their service. As this paper goes to press, we are still hoping against hope that our dear brother may yet be heard from.³⁹

Indeed, Lenna Salisbury was waiting for any word on her husband’s fate. As they were only receiving sketchy reports, she resolved to speak to any survivors who arrived in Bombay. The India Union Committee voted to pay her travel fare and the fare of anyone accompanying her. She wrote to the General Conference on January 19, 1916, of her attempts to interview anyone who might have information about Homer. A missionary from another denomination’s Dutch Mission—“a Dr. Cook”—went to meet his fiancée, who had survived, and introduced Lenna to her. Upon seeing Homer’s photograph, the future Mrs. Cook recognized and remembered him, but had not noticed him on the day of the sinking. Lenna interviewed several others, including a Mr. Knight, who introduced them to a Mr. Clark, who had seen Homer about fifteen to twenty minutes after the ship sank, and passed him something to aid in flotation, as he did not have a life-belt. It was the only piece of information Lenna Salisbury ever learned about Homer’s last moments. In her letter to Secretary Spicer, she wrote, “If Homer had none, I do not think it was because he failed to provide himself with one at the start, but rather that he had given it away.”⁴⁰

Other men had died in the sinking after giving their life-belts to those deemed to need them more, be they women or children, so it was not difficult to speculate that Homer Salisbury had done likewise, especially after it was confirmed that he had been aboard. Lenna Salisbury—and those at the General Conference headquarters—came to the hard conclusion that Homer had drowned sometime between the sinking of the Persia and the rescue of any survivors. ⁴¹ W. A. Ruble called this event “the great tragedy” of Lenna’s life.⁴²

As she considered what to do after losing her husband, Lenna began receiving letters of sympathy “from all over India” and then “coming from England and America.” She called them “a great comfort, and best of all has been the assurance they contained that my friends were praying for me.” Finally, she solicited advice as to whether she should remain in India or return to the States, stating, “There must be some little place, somewhere in all this great work where I can a little, if not in India, then anywhere the brethren decide. My only desire is to be where I can help the most” ⁴³. Despite her deep grief, Lenna chose to stay in India. Within the year, however, illness forced her back to the United States, and she sailed from Yokohama, Japan, departing June 20, 1916, arriving on July 1, 1916, in Vancouver, Canada, and then entering the United States on the same day.⁴⁴ She took up a position at Washington Missionary College, teaching French, Latin, and physical education classes.⁴⁵ However, her health continued to decline. During the summer of 1917, she arrived at Melrose Sanitarium, where she remained a year recuperating, and then spent three years doing light work at that sanitarium, considered to be “on continued leave of absence from India.”⁴⁶

In 1921, Lenna accepted an invitation to work at the just-opened Adventist school in Collonges, France.⁴⁷ The girls she was caring for caught the flu, and she took care of them, even when she was ill herself—her flu turned into pneumonia with complications, and she died on January 21, 1923, only four days after taking to her sickbed. Of her, it was written, “Sister Salisbury was one of God’s noble women—a Dorcas in her untiring service for others; a Mary in enduring suffering, sorrow, and disappointment; a Martha in thoughtfulness for the comfort of all; a Ruth in fidelity to friends; a Naomi in faithful and loving devotion to the memory of her lost companion” and that she now rested “in a little sidehill cemetery in Collonges, near the school in the interests of which she sacrificed her life.”⁴⁸

Legacy

Both Salisbury Hall at Newbold College of Higher Education in England, and Salisbury Park in India were named in honor of Homer Salisbury.⁴⁹ Yet the most enduring legacy of Homer and Lenna Salisbury involved their steadfast devotion to sharing the gospel and providing quality education to Adventist young people and the sacrifices they both made in service to that devotion.

Sources

Biographical Information Blank. “Homer Russell Salisbury,” October 10, 1905. Secretariat Missionary Files, RG 21, General Conference Archives.

“Britain Gave Promise to Convoy the Persia, Wrote Consul McNeely.” The Washington Post, January. 11, 1916.

Butler, George I. “The Camp-Meeting at Olean, N.Y.” ARH, June 12, 1883.

Butler, George I. “A Welcome to the General Conference.” ARH, November 28, 1882.

“Colorado State News.” The Cheyenne Record (Cheyenne Wells, Colorado), January 13, 1916. Newspapers.com, accessed June 24, 2021.

“Concerning Prof. H. R. Salisbury.” ARH, January 13, 1916.

Consular Registration Certificates, compiled 1907–1918. ARC ID: 1244186. General Records of the Department of State, 1763–2002, Record Group 59. National Archives at Washington, D.C. Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

“Features of the Work of the Foreign Mission Seminary.” ARH, September 1, 1910.

“Fifty Years Ago Today.” Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Michigan), June 17, 1946.

“General Conference.” ARH, December 26, 1882.

General Conference Committee minutes, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland. Accessed General Conference Archives online, June 24, 2021.

“General Conference Committee Actions.” ARH, June 26, 1913.

“The General Conference Committee Council at Gland, Switzerland, Sixth Report.” ARH, July 11, 1907.

Hall, H. H. “Our Publishing Houses the World Around – No. 6.” ARH, May 13, 1926.

Hilgert, William T. “East Pennsylvania Conference Session.” Columbia Union Visitor, February 14, 1909.

Horning, Pat. “How One Offering Helped Newbold.” ARH, August 10, 1967.

Kneeland, B. F. “New Jersey Camp-Meeting.” Columbia Union Visitor, September 16, 1908.

Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-4871. Ancestry.com. Canada, Arriving Passengers Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

“Loyal Workers.” ARH, July 31, 1913.

Michigan. Calhoun County. 1870 United States Federal Census. Digital Images. Ancestry.com, June 24, 2021.

Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 64; Film Description: 1898 Wayne-1899 Emmet. Ancestry.com, June 24, 2021.

The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California; NAI Number: 4498993; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 8. Ancestry.com. California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008.

New York. Oneida County. 1880 United States Federal Census. Digital Images. Ancestry.com, June 24, 2021.

“No Warning Given Persia.” The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), January 3, 1916.

Polk’s Battle Creek City Directory, 1899-1900. Comprising an alphabetically arranged list of business firms and private citizens; a classified list of all trades, professions and pursuits; a miscellaneous directory of city officers, banks, churches, public and private schools, secret and benevolent societies, street and avenue guide, etc., etc., Detroit, Michigan: R. L. Polk & Company, 314. Accessed 10 Jun 2021 via Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, 2011, Provo, UT, USA.

Ruble, W. A. “Mrs. Lenna Whitney Salisbury.” ARH, March 15, 1923.

“Salisbury on the Persia: Consul Reports Washington Minister Sailed From Marseille”, Washington Post (1877-1922): Washington, D.C., January 9, 1916.

Secretariat Correspondence, RG 21, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1894.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1906, 1908, 1913, 1914, and 1917.

Spicer, William A. “Memorial Service for Prof. H. R. Salisbury.” ARH, February 17, 1916.

Untitled editorial note. ARH, July 31, 1883.

Untitled editorial note. ARH, September 13, 1887.

Untitled editorial note. ARH, November 5, 1901.

Untitled editorial note. Columbia Union Visitor, December 16, 1915.

“Washington Missionary College. Columbia Union Visitor, October 12, 1916.

“Whitney.” Present Truth, May 3, 1888.

Whitney, B. L. “Central Europe.” ARH, November 29, 1887.

Whitney, B. L. “Departure for Europe.” ARH, July 3, 1883.

Wilcox, Milton C. “Eld. B. L. Whitney and Party.” ARH, August 28, 1883.

Notes

1. 1870 United States Federal Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Battle Creek Ward 2, Calhoun, Michigan; Roll: M593_666; Page: 437A; Family History Library Film: 552165. Ancestry.com, 2009, Provo, UT, USA.↩

2. “Colorado State News,” The Cheyenne Record (Cheyenne Wells, Colorado), January 13, 1916, 6.↩

3. George I. Butler, “A Welcome to the General Conference,” ARH, November 28, 1882, 752. Lenna’s birth is established by the 1880 Census: Year: 1880; Census Place: Rome, Oneida, New York; Roll: 903; Page: 138B; Enumeration District: 117, Ancestry.com, 2010, Lehi, UT, USA.↩

4. “General Conference,” ARH, December 26, 1882, 786.↩

5. George I. Butler, “The Camp-Meeting at Olean, N.Y.,” ARH, June 12, 1883, 377; B. L. Whitney, “Departure for Europe,” ARH, July 3, 1883, 432; Untitled editorial note, ARH, July 31, 1883, 496; Milton C. Wilcox, “Eld. B. L. Whitney and Party,” ARH, August 28, 1883, 560.↩

6. Untitled editorial note, ARH, September 13, 1887, 592; B. L. Whitney, “Central Europe,” ARH, November 29, 1887, 747, 748.↩

7. “Whitney,” Present Truth, May 3, 1888, 144.↩

8. Biographical Information Blank, “Homer Russell Salisbury,” October 10, 1905, RG 21, GCA.↩

9. “Claremont Union College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Battle Creek, Michigan: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1894), 46.↩

10. Biographical Information Blank, “Homer Russell Salisbury,” October 10, 1905, RG 21, GCA.↩

11. “Fifty Years Ago Today,” Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Michigan), June 17, 1946, 4.↩

12. Polk’s Battle Creek City Directory, 1899-1900. Comprising an alphabetically arranged list of business firms and private citizens; a classified list of all trades, professions and pursuits; a miscellaneous directory of city officers, banks, churches, public and private schools, secret and benevolent societies, street and avenue guide, etc., etc., Detroit, Michigan: R. L. Polk & Company, 314. Accessed 10 Jun 2021 via Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, 2011, Provo, UT, USA.↩

13. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 64; Film Description: 1898 Wayne-1899 Emmet. William A. Spicer stated in the life sketch of Homer that he presented at the memorial service for him in 1915 that they were married in 1898, but the state records are more authoritative in this matter.↩

14. Biographical Information Blank, “Homer Russell Salisbury,” October 10, 1905, Secretariat Missionary Files, RG 21, General Conference Archives↩

15. Untitled editorial note, ARH, November 5, 1901, 728.↩

16. H. R. Salisbury, “Duncombe Hall College, London N, England,” ARH, June 17, 1902, 16; “Duncombe Hall Missionary College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1904), 80.↩

17. “General European Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1904), 60, 66, 85, 90.↩

18. Untitled editorial note, ARH, August 4, 1903, 24.↩

19. Homer Salisbury is listed as a minister for the first time in the 1905 Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1905), 75; Biographical Information Blank, “Homer Russell Salisbury,” October 10, 1905, RG 21, GCA.↩

20. “South England Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association), 78; “Duncombe Hall Training College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1906), 93.↩

21. One Hundred and Eighty-Sixth Meeting, General Conference Committee, May 23, 1907, 9 P.M., 319; “The General Conference Committee Council at Gland, Switzerland, Sixth Report,” ARH, July 11, 1907, 4.↩

22. “Washington Foreign Mission Seminary,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1908), 143.↩

23. “Features of the Work of the Foreign Mission Seminary,” ARH, September 1, 1910, 19; “Washington Foreign Mission Seminary,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1913), 169.↩

24. “Editor ‘Educational Magazine,’” One Hundred and Forty-Second Meeting, General Conference Committee, June 15, 1910, 245.↩

25. See, for example: B. F. Kneeland, “New Jersey Camp-Meeting,” Columbia Union Visitor, September 16, 1908, 2-3; William T. Hilgert, “East Pennsylvania Conference Session,” Columbia Union Visitor, February 14, 1909, 4, 5.↩

26. “General Conference Committee Actions,” ARH, June 26, 1913, 624.↩

27. Consular Registration Certificates, compiled 1907–1918. ARC ID: 1244186. General Records of the Department of State, 1763–2002, Record Group 59. National Archives at Washington, D.C. Ancestry.com. U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.↩

28. “India Union Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1914), 154. (Lenna is listed as “Mrs. H. R. Salisbury”.)↩

29. Unsigned, “Loyal Workers,” ARH, July 31, 1913, 744.↩

30. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California; NAI Number: 4498993; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 8. Ancestry.com. California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008.↩

31. William A. Spicer, “Memorial Service for Prof. H. R. Salisbury,” ARH, February 17, 1916, 15, 16.↩

32. Untitled editorial note, Columbia Union Visitor, December 16, 1915, 8.↩

33. William Spicer maintained that Homer’s eagerness to get back to India was predicated on a report of Lenna being ill, and said as much at the American memorial service for Homer, but Lenna Salisbury, in her letter to Spicer on February 23, 1916, refutes that motivation as being the primary factor for his choice of route, quoting a letter from Homer: “His next to last letter from Loma Linda said ‘I have decided to go by way of New York, as I am so anxious to see some people in Berrien Springs and S. Lancaster who may come out, and I can get back to my work two weeks sooner by coming that way.’ That was what he planned to do before leaving here if he felt it was safe.” In the letter, Lenna also discussed her being ill and how she kept Homer informed about her illness but maintained that the information was not as influential as “some” thought. It is also possible that Homer Salisbury believed that taking the Persia was a safe course of action, seeing as an American consul (who also died in the event) believed so. See “Britain Gave Promise to Convoy the Persia, Wrote Consul McNeely,” The Washington Post (1877-1922); Washington, D.C., January 11, 1916, 2.↩

34. “No Warning Given Persia,” The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), January 3, 1916, 1; Lenna Salisbury to [General Conference Secretariat], January 19, 1916, 1916 – Salisbury, H.R. and Lenna, Box 3288, RG 21, General Conference Archives.↩

35. “Concerning Prof. H. R. Salisbury,” ARH, January 13, 1916, 24.↩

36. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1917), 106.↩

37. Western Union telegram, 1916 – S, Box 3288, RG 21, General Conference Archives.↩

38. Untitled text of dispatch from Marseilles, January 5, 1916, 1916 – S, Box 3288, RG 21, General Conference Archives.↩

39. “Concerning Prof. H. R. Salisbury,” ARH, January 13, 1916, 24.↩

40. Lenna Salisbury to [General Conference Secretariat], January 19, 1916, 1916 – Salisbury, H.R. and Lenna, Box 3288, RG 21, General Conference Archives.↩

41. Ibid.; “Salisbury on the Persia: Consul Reports Washington Minister Sailed From Marseille,” Washington Post (1877-1922): Washington, D.C., January 9, 1916, 15.↩

42. W. A. Ruble, “Mrs. Lenna Whitney Salisbury,” ARH, March 15, 1923, 22.↩

43. Lenna Salisbury to Eld[er William A.] Spicer, February 23, 1916, 1916 – Salisbury, H.R. and Lenna, Box 3288, RG 21, General Conference Archives.↩

44. Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-4871. Ancestry.com. Canada, Arriving Passengers Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.↩

45. News item under “Washington Missionary College,” Columbia Union Visitor, October 12, 1916, 7. A news item from the Review (ARH, 24) indicates that she had been expected to arrive on June 26, but clearly something must have changed her itinerary.↩

46. W. A. Ruble, “Mrs. Lenna Whitney Salisbury,” ARH, March 15, 1923, 22; “Mrs Lenna Salisbury,” Two Hundred Fifty-Seventh Meeting, General Conference Committee, July 20, 1920, 794.↩

47. “Mrs Salisbury–France,” Three Hundred Seventy-First Meeting, General Conference Committee, September 9, 1921, 1157.↩

48. W. A. Ruble, “Mrs. Lenna Whitney Salisbury,” ARH, March 15, 1923, 22.↩

49. Pat Horning, “How One Offering Helped Newbold,” ARH, August 10, 1967, 16; H. H. Hall, “Our Publishing Houses the World Around–No. 6,” ARH, May 13, 1926, 9.↩